Autodesk customer success story M Moser Associates

There’s an evolution taking place in the industry. 3D is becoming the way that you deliver designs and other project information. Autodesk BIM 360 Glue is part of our toolkit for bringing 3D to our clients and delivering more value to them. —Chris Swartout

Senior Associate M Moser Associates

Project summary In the early 1980s, China was just beginning to open its doors to international business. Visionary American architect Moira Moser recognized the opportunity, and in 1981 started M Moser Associates, one of the first firms in Hong Kong to specialize in interior architecture and workplace solutions for international companies. Today, M Moser Associates has completed over 4,500 projects and employs 700 people in 16 locations throughout the world. To deliver spaces that work optimally from day one, the company uses integrated project delivery (IPD), a highly collaborative project delivery approach that relies on input from clients and all stakeholders at the onset of a project to align design intent, improve budget accountability, and streamline project timelines. To that end, 3D modeling with Building Information Modeling (BIM) plays a critical role, enabling M Moser and its clients to fully experience a workplace design as it is being developed, before construction begins. “Our goal is to put communication at the center of our project process,” explains Chris Swartout, senior associate with M Moser Associates. “We want to harness the power of the information available in 3D, not just to resolve potential conflicts at the back end, but to get the best results by leveraging everyone’s experience and ideas from the very beginning.”

Make it work M Moser uses Autodesk BIM 360 Glue for integrated project delivery

COMPANY

M Moser Associates

LOCATION

New York, New York, United States

SOFTWARE Autodesk® BIM 360™ Glue® Autodesk® Navisworks® Manage

The challenge

In early 2012, M Moser was selected by the New York chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association to undertake an expansion of their workspace in midtown Manhattan. The additional floor of the 15,400-square-foot facility has been designed as a multiuse center—the first in the United States to focus on the needs of early-stage Alzheimer’s people and their caregivers. As the expansion was being funded by private donations, there was a strong incentive to keep aggregate project costs in line with an exacting budget. Moreover, the IPD process requires that M Moser be the single point of responsibility for clients, from project conception to occupation. “We try to take an overarching look at a project from a budget and accountability standpoint,” explains Swartout. “We are always striving to find better forms of communication to align all our partners. Our goal is to make information more transparent.”

Image courtesy of M Moser Associates.

Autodesk customer success story M Moser Associates

Autodesk, BIM 360, Glue, and Navisworks are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2013 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cloud-based Autodesk BIM 360 Glue enhances team collaboration

The solution To promote transparent, real-time decision making and maximize efficiency through all phases of design and construction, M Moser uses cloud-based approaches utilizing Autodesk® BIM 360™ Glue® software as a service as part of its virtual design and construction toolkit. Data-rich 3D models of the fit-out were created by M Moser merging laser scan point clouds of the existing space with 3D models of the new fit-out and made accessible to the entire project team through Autodesk BIM 360 Glue. Explains Swartout, “We needed to align all the decision makers to have a coordinated design aesthetic. Autodesk BIM 360 Glue acts as a bridge to help open up communication across the team.” For M Moser, hosting virtual 3D models in the cloud with Autodesk BIM 360 Glue makes them more accessible to all project stakeholders, wherever they are, without requiring everyone to purchase new software licenses. “Autodesk BIM 360 Glue allows us to have a centralized repository that can be easily accessed,” explains George Fernandez, integrated technologist for M Moser. “The service has a very good rendering engine and is open to different file format uploads. Everyone who is part of the project can upload their own model, manage it their own way, and the information communicated will be more consistent.” When Hurricane Sandy struck in late October 2012, the M Moser team was without electricity and unable to get into their offices for several days. Yet, the project was able to keep moving forward during that time because the 3D model was available via the cloud. “We couldn’t get access to our buildings or our servers,” says Fernandez. “But Autodesk BIM 360 Glue helped us reduce the impact of the hurricane on the project.”

Easy collaboration for everyone

Not all project team members were used to working in a 3D environment, but Autodesk BIM 360 Glue proved to be a tool that everyone found easier to use. According to Swartout, “Autodesk BIM 360 Glue has allowed us to bring 3D modeling to members of the team who are a bit removed from the design process. You don’t need much training to navigate the 3D model like a pro.” To further increase transparency and enable more people to effectively participate in the IPD process, M Moser gave construction professionals and other members of the extended project team access to Autodesk BIM 360 Glue through an app available on Apple® iPad® mobile devices. “The mobile app for Autodesk BIM 360 Glue is absolutely invaluable,” says Fernandez. “It’s simple to use. You don’t have to be an expert in the software. The entire team can view the 3D model in real time, from almost anywhere, using the cloud. That makes a lot of people happy.” Real, not virtual, cost savings

M Moser also used 3D modeling, Autodesk BIM 360 Glue, and Autodesk® Navisworks® Manage project review software to help maximize efficiency on another workplace fit-out, for CLS Bank in New York City. When the final costs for the expansion were calculated, they discovered a significant cost savings. Explains Swartout, “By minimizing conflicts early in the design stage, we helped to prevent problems later—saving an estimated US$185,000.” The result The Alzheimer’s Association project was completed in February 2013—on schedule and within budget. Helping the New York City Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association fulfill its mission of creating a new center was important for all project participants. Lou-Ellen Barkan, president and chief executive officer, Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter explains, “We hosted two members of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and gave them the grand tour. We were particularly delighted with their enthusiastic reaction and pride in seeing their name on the wall. It was a joy for us to see.”

Image courtesy of M Moser Associates.

The mobile app for Autodesk BIM 360 Glue is absolutely invaluable. It’s simple to use. You don’t have to be an expert in the software. The entire team can view the 3D virtual model in real time, from almost anywhere, using the cloud. That makes a lot of people happy. —George Fernandez

Integrated Technologist M Moser Associates

M Moser’s methodology, combined with its toolkit for infusing 3D modeling into the project process (with Autodesk BIM 360 Glue as part of it) made the design intent more transparent, helped reduce field construction errors and contain costs, and helped realize the project’s goals. “There’s an evolution taking place in the industry,” says Swartout. “3D is becoming the way that you deliver designs and other project information. Autodesk BIM 360 Glue is part of our toolkit for bringing 3D to our clients and delivering more value to them.”

Image courtesy of M Moser Associates.